2007 has been promulgated as Year of Mevlana by UNESCO. Various activities are performed in relation to Mevlana, and periodicals host numerous articles and research works about Mevlana. Programs on Mevlana have been organized overall the world in 2007 and papers are written. This article makes an assessment of the activities conducted in relation to Mevlana in 2007, and tries to establish what is done and written in Turkey. Full identity of these articles and researches published in various scientific and popular journals is given in alphabetic order.

Keywords: Mevlânâ, Unesco 2007, Article, Journal

As known, 2007 has been promulgated as the "Year of Mevlana" by UNESCO. In this regards, various events are organized in our country in relation to Mevlana. Numerous events are conducted about Mevlana every year, and periodicals publish numerous articles and research works. We can easily say that it is possible to say new things about Mevlana, who is at the center of a global interest. With his Mesnevi and other works, and besides these with his life, he has a power of influence which could give the require inspiration /motivation to people of modern world.

The interest on this enormous culture accumulation reaches to dimensions which gradually increases in the West. It is seen that Mesnevi is the book which is read the most after the Bible in the USA. We witness that the interest paid on Mesveni has been expanding over years. This great interest requires making certain inquities on Mevlana. Efforts of some people to perceive Mevlana abstracting him from his Islamic identity should also be examined well. Also there is a need to carefully consider some approaches towards Mevlana under the scope of "Moderate Islam", which has become a point of attraction.

Isolating Mevlana from its place in Islam Tasawwuf and reducing him to a mystical plane with a Western approach requires us to speak about a diluted percepton of Mevlana. It is required to question such an attitude and demonstrate a firm standing towards the approach which detaches even the modern spiritual concepts of our age from their original context, and imposes them an ungrounded content and consumes this meaning in the short run.

We need to evaluate the magnificent accumulation of culture which Mevlana and Mevlevis left to us, the books which reflect various aspects of Mevlevi order, his contribution in the sufi music, evaluate his contributions to the agricultural field through Mevlevihanes, and, on the other hand, overcome some modern problems that could come into agenda through Mevlana (moderate Islam, a spiritual experience converted into a gaunt mysticism). Demonstrating the accumulation of books prepared by Mevlevi authors in a healthy manner and presenting them to the people of our days and thus increasing the productivity of our world of thought require intense and exhausting efforts. What has been done on this area is quite less than what should be done. It is possible to analyze and assess Tasawwuf, which is one of the arteries of our culture, in a healthy manner within the context of Mevlana.

Another point which we could consider as having a connection with Mevlana seems to be the increasing interest in Persian. We see that the young people pay attention to Persian, among the Eastern languages, mainly due to the fact that it is the language of Mesnevi, though this is not a single factor.

What has been done in 2007 about Mevlana?

Numerous events have been organized in our country due to Mevlana Year, including Seb-i Arus ceremonies, and various works are published accordingly. In fact, Mevlana has always been a focus of interest all the time, and of course this interest is not limited to Mevlana Year. For this reason, despite the fact that 2007 is the Year of Mevlana, activities conducted in the year are not that much visible.

In 2005, Tasawwuf Journal of Scientific and Academic Research has issued a tribute publication titled Mevlana Special Issue, a think volume with 834 pages, (January June 2005, N.14, p.834) and in 2007, it has published a Tribute to Mevlana, comprising of 416 pages, which involves articles and interviews related to Mevlana. In this issue, interviews are made with various academicians, each of which is an expert on Tasawwuf, including Süleyman Uludağ, Mustafa Kara, Osman Türer, Abdülhakim Yüce, Mustafa Aşkar, Dilaver Gürer, Reşat Öngören, Himmet Konur, İsa Çelik, Hülya Küçük, Süleyman Derin, Cengiz Gündoğdu, Rifat Okudan, Sezai Küçük, Kabir Helminski, Safi Arpaguş, Mustafa Çakmaklıoğlu, Salih Çift, Hüseyin Kurt and Ali Tenik. The fact that the special issues related to Mevlana are limited to a few special issues prepared byTasawwuf(Yıl: 8, I. 20, A Tribute to Mevlana),Seven Climates(October 2007, I. 211),Turkish Literature(October 2007, I. 408) andBerceste(December 2007, I. 66) journals is partly due to the fact the scholars in our country devote most of their times to Mevlana all the times, read his works, and works and researches about him are published in periodicals.

Another joyful progress that has taken place in the year is the fact that a Journal of Mevlana Researches has started to be published in Konya by SUMAM. The first issue of the journal was published in 2007; and the preparations for the second issue are ongoing. Again, in 2007 an almanac of Mevlana Researches has been published in book-journal format under the editorial of Adnan Karaismailoglu by Mevlana Researches Association. It will be a significant contribution to Mevlana researches to publish this almanac, the first issue of which has been published, every year.

We can say that the most important event in terms of scope and content among 2007 events is the International Mevlana Symposium, which has been organized in Istanbul and Konya by the Ministry of Culture between 8 - 12 May 2007. 163 scientists who are experts on their fields participated in this symposium from 32 countries, and presented papers[1]. Turkish Union of Authors also organized two separate Mevlana Symposiums in 2007. The first of this has been organized in Aleppo between 23  27 March 2007 and held in Halep Mevlevihane. This symposium, which hosted the participation of various scientists from Turkey and Syria, demonstrated that Mevlana could be a bridge of love and gnosis both within our country and among our neighbors. The second symposium organized by Turkish Union of Authors was the Mevlana Days organized on 4 -5 May 2007 in Gelibolu Mevlevihane. This symposium, which was organized with a wide participation and in an atmosphere of spirituality of Gelibolu Mevlevihane, was held with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Gelibolu Governor's Office. Papers of both Symposiums were compiled in book within the year.

We should also emphasize that new books and new translations were published in 2007 about Mevlana. A new translation of Mesnevi was prepared by Hicabi Kirlangic and Derya Ors, who are two scholars from the Faculty of Language and History - Geography. This translation has found its place among other Mesnevi translations prepared up to date, with its quite simple language and fluent style. Meanwhile, new translations of part of other works of Mevlana were made. The famous Mesnevi Commentary of Abidin Pasha was simplified and published in 2007. This commentary is a significant work, although it was simplified and published before being published under a healthy translation.

Part of the publications related to Mevlana reflects the interest paid by the West on this great saint through translations. In this regard, in 2007, books of such authors as Kebir Helminski, Neil Douglas-Klotz, Coleman Barks, John Moyne about Mevlana were translated into Turkish, With selection for the Western reader. Some of these books are the publications which release some problems focused on Mevlana as we have mentioned about, and are thus eye-catching in this regard.

As can be seen, a certain atmosphere of liveliness has been provided in 2007 Mevlana Year. However, we would like to emphasize that Mevlana will be in our agenda after 2007, as it has been before 2007. In the scope of Mevlana, we may talk and discuss various traditional and modern problems and issues. Existence of such a legacy is doubtlessly a great opportunity. Mesnevi, which is a commentary of Quran, will facilitate our positive steps on this issue and Mevlana will continue to influence us with his full warmness.

Assuming that this will benefit to our readers, we hereby would like to present the works about Mevlana published in 2007.

Hasan Almaz, Works Related to Mevlana and Mevlevi Order in the Manuscripts Department of Ankara University Faculty of Language and History  Geography University,Mevlana Researches, c. I, 2007, s. 213-238.